“We are a family like a giant tree branching out towards the sky…
We are a family…
We are so much more than just you and I
We are a family like a giant tree…
Growing stronger, growing wiser, we are growing free…
We need you..we are a family…”
For the past couple of days, I had the pleasure of connecting and re-connecting w/ some of my innanet friends. If you’d asked me at the dawn of the millennium whether or not I would EVER meet someone online face-to-face, I would’ve been like HELL NAW! Now, I am friends and “friends” with so many of you that I can barely keep count.
But when you follow people for so long, via their blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc first as a work distraction and then out of genuine interest, it’s almost like a rush seeing them in person. On Sunday, I was reminded of the day that I found Honest’s blog and thinking, “Dang! That girl could be my friend!” She was so cute, funny and open – someone that I could see myself hanging out with in real life . That day, so many years ago, I shook my head because of course that would NEVER happen…and then lo and behold, it did! I felt the same energy when I finally got the chance to “hug Icey’s neck” yesterday. 
It’s funny to see some of the “new crew” of blog brothers and sisters. The ones in their early to mid-twenties, chronicling their pursuits of life, love and happiness. I know some of us “old heads” shake our heads and roll our eyes at their whodikkery, but I see so much of ourselves in them. I wish that I had never deleted my “Woman Thou Art Loosed!!” (and the other 50-11 thousand offsprings lol) blog – because w/o Beloved, there would be no SoJo.
I wouldn’t be able to appreciate ForNot, if I had not once known and loved the antics of Bruthacode. I would have no idea how much sense Ms. Smart makes, if I hadn’t chosen to ride on the furbus from “The Show” to the “The After Party” with her. But on an even deeper level, I wouldn’t feel so connected to the triumphs and tragedies in our lives. My heart literally aches when you guys lose a loved one or experience pain. It also leaps for joy when you find love, add to your families, etc.
I feel infinitely blessed that you guys have chosen to walk this path with me, as well. I don’t know why I felt led to write this post. Maybe it’s because I’m still on a blog mush high from the weekend, but also hoping that some of my blog fam that’s experiencing hurt right now know that my thoughts and love are with them too.
She likes us! She really likes us.
Lawd, I DO! I really DO!! And to think…folks used to think that all innanet folks were ugly, hunched over introverts in their mama’s basements!
I was just talking about this somewhere on the net not too long ago and wondered if a few years back we sounded like the current crop of mid-twenty-somethings. At first I thought “no way.” But now, I think we kinda did.
The cool part is that we’ve “seen” each other transition from that to where we are today. And to think that it’s been 5 or 6 years, and we are STILL commenting on each other’s pages is just amazing to me. I was just looking at “Brown Shuga’s” entry after the Atlanta meetup over 4 years ago and remembering that whole trip. Moreso, how even after all the time and stories and meet-ups, we’re still pretty much “just bloggers” to each other. But for us, “blogger” means a lot more than just what that word implies; I think that’s what makes our clique distinct.
We were the original 72 Black bloggers. We were the ones blogging back before it was socially acceptable.
What’s also remarkable was that it was done with NO marketing and no gimmacks.
Now people can self-promote on Twitter, FB, MySpace etc. and everyone has their niche (dating blogger, self-help blogger, sex/relationship therapy, political, angry, sane, etc.) But OG’s were simply writing about their day-to-day lives, sprinkled with instrospect and humor. It was refreshing to be in Atlanta and see that there was someone in another state with similar interests, friendships and experiences going thru the same things that I was.
It was a novelty. Now it seems like there are recycled anecdotes, identical formats and competition over who has the best site. Nothing like the genuine comraderie that we developed.
This is true. We may not have been the pioneers, but we were certainly ahead of our time in some respects.
And like SoJo said, without a bit of self-promotion aside from our writing. A good day back then was 20 comments. Today, it is routine to see entries with 150. It’s impossible for connections to form when so many are involved. It’s like being on line with 200 LBs/LSs, it just isn’t the same as being on line with only 20.
Now I think people spend too much time blogging in hopes of book deals and veritable sources of income. The authenticity is largely gone. I suspect in some way, we had a hand in that as well.
We were most definitely a lot like them, which makes it so interesting to me when I read their entries and see how they interact w/ each other.
It’s almost like watching your younger brothers/sisters growing up. Shaking your head sometimes, but looking forward to seeing where their journey takes them.
When I think about our clique, I almost feel like we were that 1st Season of The Real World – something special – unable to be duplicated. But you can always see traces of us in seasons to come. Just imagine if we brought back the old crew for a Challenge.
Awwwwww…..that was a sweet post.
Why thank you, ma’am! You know I luh y’all! LOL!
haha! That was sweet. While I see you guys as “bloggers” I do see you guys as my blogging family. Not just some random anonymous blogger hunched over a keyboard. I’m like wow it has been like 5/6 years.
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